johnson



No. 81,787. :PAIENTED SEPT. 1, 1868 J. F. JOHNSON. HARNESS MAKERS CLAMP.

ar/MW [1206312211 finesse. JOHNSON, or MONROVIA, INDIANA.

Letters Patent No. 81,787, dated September 1, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARNESS MAKERS CLAMP.

din some reform in in time interns tent in making pun silt: smut.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN Be it known that I, Jnssn E. JOHNSON, ofMonrovia, in'the county of Morgan, and State of Indiana, have inventednew and useful Improvements in'Harness-Makers' Clamps; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, making part of this specification.

"My invention relates to construction of harness-makers clamps adaptedto hold reins, tugs, or other articles made of leather, having a roundform while bein g sewed, and in connection therewith a channelling-tool,which is conveniently used to make the channel inthe leather for thereception of the thread.

Figure 1 is a side view, and

Figure 2 an end view of the clamp. v

Figure 3 is a detached view of a part of one of the jaws of the clamp,showing the guide for keeping the edges of the leather parallehhnd forgoverning the distance of the seam from the edges, and which also holdsthe fillin'g in thefbld of the strap. e

Figure 4 is a view of the ohanneller.

Similar letters of reference indicate the some pertain the severalfigures.

The following description will enable skilled artisansto make and use myinvention.

The jaws AA of the clamp are made of metal, and are attached to the;stock B, as shown, the latter being fixed upright in the ordinary buckused by saddlers and harness-makers for similar purposes.

The inside of the jaws is furnished with adjustable notched guide-platesC, more clearly shown in fig. 3, which are attached to the jaws by meansof screws through slots in. the guides, so arranged that they may beadjusted vertically to regulatethe distance of the seam from the edgesof the leather. The notches in the two guide-plates C C are soa'rrangedthat the projections cl on one plate will shut into the notches.ol" the opposite plate- The object of constructing the guide-plates inthis manner is to allow'tllo jaws'to be opened asfar as may be desiredto put in the strap, or to admit of its being drawn through the jawswithout separating the guides far enoughto let the filling drop downbetween them.

An adjustable notched guide, D, is attached to the fixed jaw A, whichprojects a short distance to the rear of the clamp, and serves to holdand guide the filling as it is drawn with the strap into the jaws.

The device for holding the folded strap in the jaws, and keeping itfirmly down upon the guide-plate C, is

composed 'of'the horizontal bar E, with its arms, F; the horizontal barG, with its arms, 2, by which it is attached by means of pivot-screws tothe fixed jaw A, as shown in fig. 2'; the lever-H attached to the bar G,and elastic strap or spring I. Bar G, lever H, and arms e, combined,form a lever by which to actuate the holding- ,bar E. The lower ends ofarms F are pivoted in the arms'e, near theirjunction with bar G, so thatthebar E may bcconvenicutly swung from over the jaws,.when required, toput in the article to be sewed, as indicated by the red dottcd'lines,fig. 2, and be swing back again over the strap after it is adjusted inthe jaws.

i The hinged jaw A is made to clamp the folded strap by means of thostrap-T, which is attached thereto,

and'passes over a roller, K, hung in the fixed jaw A to. the treadle ofthe back in the usual manner. Although notshown, [contemplate the, useof a-spring to open thejaws when the treadle is released.

, In connection with the clump, constructed and arranged as set forth, Ihave constructed a channelling tool, L, figs. 1 and 4, which is made ofsteel in the form shown, furnished'with knives, which may be adjustedand secured by thumb-screws in any position desired to regulate thedepthof the channel.

The strap to be sewed is folded at one end, and, together with thefilling, is placed in the jaws with the edges restinguponthe'guide-platcs C, the filling in the rear resting in the notchedguideD. The holding-bar E is then brought over the folded strap, which, bythe tension off-the elastic strap I, is held securely in the jaws,

and the edges of the strap kept pressed firmly down-upon theguide-plates C. The channcller L is then sprung open and placed upon thefolded strap, close to the end of the clamp opposite the operator, asshown in fig. 1, the knives resting upon the jaws of the clamp, so as tocut the channels as near the edges of the leather as practicable. Thechannellcr is then drawn back to the other end of the clamp, the knivescutting the channel for the thread. The operator commences sewing wherethe channeller started from, and sews up to it. The treadle is thenreleased from pressure of the feet, which relaxes the clasp of the jawsupon the strap, when the latter may be drawn through the clamp until theehanneller is brought forward to the opposite side, as in the firstinstance. The channeller is then drawn back, and the operator sows up toit as before, and so on for any length of strap. The holding-bar E keepsthe strap in place as it is drawn through the jaws.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The guide-plates 0 attached to thejaws A. A, substantially as andfertile purpose set forth.

2. The holding-bar E, lever G H e,'and elastic strap I, arrangedsubstantially as and fertile purpose set fort 3. The channelling-tool L,constructed and applied substantially as set forth.

JESSE F. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

CLARK GRAVE, B. E. TANSEY'.

